Chelsea put their Carabao Cup final defeat behind them to give their top-four hopes a huge boost at the expense of Tottenham’s title challenge at Stamford Bridge.

Pedro scored the opening goal after 57 minutes and Kieran Trippier scored an own goal in the closing stages as Maurizio Sarri selected Willy Caballero in goal ahead of Kepa Arrizabalaga following the Spaniard’s refusal to be substituted in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final.

Chelsea started brightly and Gonzalo Higuain struck the post in the early stages with a sliced effort that left Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris rooted to the spot, while Harry Winks struck the crossbar for the visitors with an excellent first-half strike from the edge of the box.

A second consecutive league defeat for Tottenham all but ends their title ambitions, with Mauricio Pochettino’s side now nine points behind leaders Liverpool, who beat Watford on Wednesday.

Chelsea remain sixth but have a game in hand on their top-four rivals.